Good Friends are Hard to Find
by ReadBooksWriteThings
Summary: This story is a collection of different friendships in the Harry Potter universe. Some are canon, some are not. There are no romances, just friendship. Hope you enjoy!
1. Arithmancy Lovers (Hermione&Padma)

**This chapter is written for the 'Magic Minds, Mushrooms and Maths' event on 'The Golden Snitch Forum.'**

**School/House: Beauxbatons - Barbegazi**

**Prompt: Math Lover - Write about someone passionate about Arithmancy**

**Additional Prompts**

**3\. (character) Padma Patil**

**10\. (dialogue ) "Don't you love numbers? They show the secrets to everything!"**

**Word Count (excluding authors note): 643**

**This is about Hermione and Padma becoming fast friends in their Arithmancy class.**

* * *

Hermione excitedly entered the Arithmancy classroom. She had wanted to study Arithmancy the moment she learned that they offered it at Hogwarts. She tucked the Time-Turner inside the pocket of her robes before looking for a seat.

The tables were arranged in rows of seven and were all facing a large chalkboard at the front of the room. Hermione looked around for someone she knew. She saw a few fellow classmates including her roomate Fay Dunbar, a Hufflepuff named Hannah Abbott and Parvati Patil's identical twin sister Padma Patil.

Hermione decided to sit next to Padma Patil as the two had spoken on occasion and she seemed very nice. Even though Parvati and Padma were identical twins, Hermione thought they acted nothing alike. Parvati never seemed to like Hermione much whereas Padma always gave her a smile whenever they saw each other.

"Hi Hermione," Padma said warmly as Hermione sat down, "Are you taking Arithmancy as well?"

"Yes," Hermione smiled, "Don't you love numbers? They show the secrets to everything!"

"I know right!" Padma said happily, "You're the first person I know who thinks that as well!"

"Finally," said Hermione, "I've met someone who appreciates math."

Padma laughed, "I take it Ron and Harry don't?"

"Nope," she said smiling, "They don't like anything in school that involves work. They take such a long time to get their homework done."

"Isn't it hard being the only girl in the trio?"

"Well, not really. I'm pretty used to it by now. Although their lack of interest in school can really get on my nerves sometimes."

Padma smiled, "My sister is like that too. She thinks studying is a waste of time."

"Wow," Hermione said, "You two don't act alike at all."

"I know," Padma said, "We get that a lot. Sometimes I think we're complete opposites."

"Is it fun having a twin?"

"Yes, I really like it. I just wish we could be more like each other." Padma changed the topic. "So, what about you, do you have any siblings?"

Hermione sighed, "No, I'm an only child. I wish I had a sister. Like a younger one. That would be amazing."

Padma smiled, "I'm the little sister. Parvati is two and half minutes older than me."

"Does she ever say that just to annoy you?"

"Yeah," Padma said, laughing, "She always says, 'when I was your age I was doing', and then she says whatever she did like two minutes ago."

Hermione laughed as well, "That's funny."

Padma smiled, "So how excited are you for this class? It's our first class of the year!"

"What do you-" Hermione started to say, quickly stopping herself. Padma wouldn't know that this was the third class Hermione had been to that morning. "I mean, I'm really excited," she said as Padma gave her a suspicious look, "I've always wanted to take Arithmancy."

"Yeah, me too," Padma said, "When do you think Professor Vector will get here?"

"I dunno," said Hermione, relieved that the other girl had not questioned her about her blunder, "I hope she gets here soon."

"Me too, but I really like talking to you."

Hermione smiled, "I like talking to you too. You wouldn't mind if I sat with you in Arithmancy from now on, would you?"

Padma grinned, "Of course I don't mind. After all, you are the only person I know who appreciates numbers as much as I do."

At that moment Professor Vector walked in and told the class to get out their Arithmancy textbooks. As Hermione pulled hers out, she looked at Padma who was also getting her textbook from her bag. She smiled again and thought about how happy she was to have already made such a great friend.


	2. Nighttime Directions (Gabrielle&Luna)

**This chapter is written for the**** 'Golden Snitch Third Year Anniversary ' event on The Golden Snitch Forum.**

**School/House: Beauxbatons, Barbegazi**

**Prompt: ****4\. The three schools from the Triwizard Tournament - 2. Write about Gabrielle Delacour**

**Additional prompt - 2. Castle (word)**

**Word Count (excluding authors note): 1020**

**This fic is about Gabrielle and Luna becoming friends after the former gets lost during her stay at Hogwarts. Also for the sake of easy writing, neither Gabrielle or Fleur will have an accent.**

* * *

Gabrielle was lost. That much was obvious. Her sister had left to go do something in preparation for the tournament and the eight-year-old just couldn't find her way back to the carriages where everyone from Beauxbatons was staying.

She fidgeted, turning around yet another corner, searching in vain for the exit. The exit wasn't in that corridor and there was no one there to help her. It was well after dinner and most students were probably getting ready for bed. Gabrielle sighed before slumping to the floor in defeat, she would just have to sleep here until tomorrow.

"Oh," came a dreamy voice, "Hello there!"

Gabrielle looked up and saw a blonde girl looking back at her. The girl wasn't blonde in the same way Gabrielle was however. While Gabrielle had silvery-blonde hair (thanks to her Veela ancestry), this girl had dirty-blonde hair. This girl was also much older than she was, perhaps 12 or 13 years old.

"What are you doing here?" Gabrielle asked, sitting up straight, "It's pretty late, won't you get in trouble for being here?"

The girl smiled serenely, "I was looking for my shoes," Gabrielle looked down and saw her striped-socked feet, "I'm sure if I got in trouble, I would just explain that I was looking for my shoes. Anyways, what are you doing here? You look much too young to be at Hogwarts."

"Oh, I'm looking for my sister," she said politely. When the girl continued to look slightly puzzled, she added, "Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion."

"Oh, of course," she said happily, "I forgot she had a sister. There must have been a Wrackspurt floating around in here."

Gabrielle didn't know what a Wrackspurt was and dismissed it as something that wasn't native to France.

"So can you help me find my way back?" Gabrielle asked hopefully.

"Sure, the exit is on the other side of the castle," the girl said, pulling Gabrielle to her feet, "I'm Luna by the way."

"Gabrielle," she said, shaking Luna's hand.

The two of them started to walked down the corridor.

"So, what happened to your shoes?" She asked as they turned a corner, hoping to engage Luna in some conversation.

Luna looked at her with a soft smile, "The Nargles took them. They've been missing for a week now."

"That must be horrible." Gabrielle said, feeling sorry for Luna. She was happy that they didn't have any Nargles in France. "Do they always take people's things."

"Well nargles take my stuff a lot. I don't think other people have interesting things that nargles like. But I always find everything in the end."

"That's good that you find your stuff eventually. Maybe your shoes will turn up soon."

"That would be lovely," Luna said with a smile.

"Do you like Hogwarts?" Gabrielle asked trying to change to subject so she wouldn't have to continue talking about a creature she had never seen before.

"Oh yes, very much," she said dreamily, "I'm in my third year so I get to take extra courses."

"What courses are you taking?" Gabrielle was curious to see what kids learn at Hogwarts.

"Divination and Muggle Studies."

Gabrielle frowned, "What are Muggles?"

"Muggles are people without magic."

"Oh, we call them _non-__magiques_." Gabrielle looked at her feet which were sore from walking. "Are we almost to the carriages? This is such a long walk."

Luna laughed, "We're taking the shortcut. Hogwarts is a very big school. And yes, we are almost there."

"Good, I can't wait to go to sleep," she said happily. Luna looked a little sad. "Not that I'm not having fun talking to you," she added hastily, "It's just that I don't want my sister to think I got lost."

"It's alright, I understand" Luna said matter-of-factly, "I rather enjoyed talking to you. I don't get to do it often."

"What do you mean you don't get to talk to people? Hogwarts seems to be filled with people!"

"The kids in my year don't like me," Luna said serenely, "They make fun of me. Some of them call me Loony actually."

Gabrielle frowned, she hated bullies. A lot of girls back home made fun of her for being part veela and it always hurt her feelings. She knew that having a friend always made things better."

"I can be your friend," Gabrielle offered, watching Luna's face light up with pleasure, "Well, until I have to go home that is."

"Thank you," she beamed, "I would love to be your friend."

"Won't you be lonely after I leave?"

"I will but there is this girl in my year who is nice to me. Maybe I can be her friend soon. Her name is Ginny, she's in Gryffindor."

"Gryffindor?"

"Yes, Gryffindor. The house."

When Gabrielle continued to look confused, Luna said, "You guys don't sort people at Beauxbatons?"

"Sort?" Gabrielle asked, "How would we sort them?"

So Luna spent the rest of their walk talking about the sorting. How she was in Ravenclaw, where creativity and wit were valued. She told Gabrielle that if she came to Hogwarts, she most certainly would be placed in Ravenclaw as well. All too soon, the two girls arrived at the exit and walked in the night sky towards the carriages.

"Gabrielle," came a relieved voice. The two of them turned to see Fleur rushing towards them. She spoke in rapid french to Gabrielle, hugging her tightly.

"Thank you," Fleur said, turning towards Luna, "For bringing my sister back here, I was so worried about here."

"No problem," said Luna as she turned around to head back to her dorm, "Bye Gabrielle."

"Bye Luna, I'll talk to you soon."

As Gabrielle snuggled into her blankets, she smiled at the thought of her new friend. Luna was very nice, maybe she could help her find her shoes. That would definitely teach the nargles a lesson.


	3. Family (Teddy&JamesSirius)

**This fic is about James Sirius and Teddy. This was written for the 'Doctor Who Day' event on The Golden Snitch forum.**

**School, House: Beauxbatons, Barbegazi**

**Prompt: 10. Write about friends and someone who looks naive but really isn't.**

**Word count: 873**

**This starts a little sadder than the other stories in this collection so I would say the rating for this one would be a mix between K plus and T, just because it talks a lot about the deaths of Remus and Tonks. **

* * *

Teddy wiped away tears as he looked at the crinkled photograph in his hand.

In it was a man with brown hair, a kind face and a loving smile. His dad. Beside him was a grinning young woman, with pink hair and a purple shirt. His mom. In her arms was a wrapped bundle, a tuff of electric blue hair sticking out, looking rather splendid against the pale yellow blanket. And him.

It wasn't fair. Teddy knew they had died, fighting for the freedom of good over evil, fighting to make the world a better place. _But why did they have to die?_ They left him alone. Well not completely alone. He had his grandmother and Harry, with his wife and two boys, James and Albus. They were even going to have a baby girl. Although Teddy had so many people looking out for him, there was a hole inside him that no one could fix.

His parents.

Thinking of them hurt him deep down. Despite Harry's best efforts to make him feel as though he was a part of the family, despite Ginny fiercely telling him that he was always welcome to their house, despite all of his relatives being so kind to him, there was something missing inside. A sense of belonging.

Teddy traced the outline of his parents' smiling figures. He loved this photo, his grandmother had given it to him when she first told him why he didn't have any parents. That was when he first saw how his parents had looked like. That was when the reality of the whole thing crashed down on him. His parents were dead. They would never see him grow up. They could never hug him or kiss him. They couldn't even see him go off to Hogwarts.

"Teddy," came a small and familiar voice, "Teddy, what's wrong?"

"James," Teddy said, hiding the photo and plastering a smile on his face. "What are you doing here?"

The six-year-old smiled before walking into Teddy's room, dragging his teddy bear behind him. Well, actually it was the Potter family's guest room, but it practically belonged to Teddy.

"I want you to play on the brooms with me. But mommy and daddy said to leave you alone because you were sad." He paused and sat on Teddy's lap, looking up at him with big brown eyes. "Why are you sad?"

Teddy laughed, his fake smile growing even wider. "I'm not sad James. Why would you think that?"

James frowned, "Because you were crying. Why were you crying?"

Teddy mentally cursed himself, _how could he let James see him like this_? "I'm not sad James," he said repeated, hoping James would believe him. "Come on, lets go outside."

James got off Teddy's lap but didn't go to the door like he had hoped. Instead he turned around, placing his hands on his hips.

"I'm not a baby anymore. You have to tell me why you're sad."

Teddy sighed, as much as he didn't want to admit it, James was right. Although the six year old looked innocent and naive, he was wise beyond his years. Besides, if Teddy could pick who in the house to confide in, maybe James wasn't such a bad choice.

"Remember when I told you that my parents were dead?"

James looked up, a serious expression on his face. "Yeah, I remember. Are you sad because they aren't here anymore?"

Teddy sighed again, "Kind of, I'm sad because they won't get to see me do stuff. They won't be here for me. They won't see me go off to Hogwarts. Or get a job. Or even see me get married." He felt his face heat up as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. He was eleven years old for Merlin's sake! He was much too old to be crying about his parents. And much too young to be talking about getting married!

"But mommy and daddy can see you do that kind of stuff." James said, "They act like you're their son too, so don't you think that they are you're parents?"

Teddy wiped away some more tears, "It's not like that James. Of course I love Harry and Ginny, it's just that I wish that my parents could be here too."

James gave him a big hug, "We're your family too. Just because you're parents are dead doesn't mean that you don't have family."

Teddy patted James on the head. "I know James. You guys are my family too."

James grinned, "Then stop being all sad."

Teddy smiled, "Okay, it's hard to be sad when my best friend is around." James' face lit up with delight. "Come on, let's go play Quidditch."

"Yay!" James ran out the room and headed downstairs, probably headed for the backyard.

Teddy smiled, placing his photo back in his drawer before following James. Maybe his parents weren't with him. But he still had a family, one that loved and supported him. And he was happy just the way everything was.


	4. Betrayal (Peter&James)

**This story is written for the 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' challenge on The Golden Snitch Forum. I'm in the Barbegazi house and in Beauxbatons. The prompt I used was...**

**Naughty - 7. Write about Peter Pettigrew**

**Additional prompt: 11. (emotion) Jealousy **

**Word Count excluding authors note: 2155**

**This story is mostly about Peter and why he decides to betray the Potters. Also I know Peter isn't really in character but I always thought that he hid cunning with timidness.**

* * *

"Excuse me," Peter said awkwardly to the three boys in front of him, "Would it be alright if I sat in this compartment?"

The boy with messy black hair looked up, "Of course, you can!" He patted the spot next to him. "I'm James by the way, James Potter."

Peter knew of the Potter family, they were one of the most ancient wizarding families. They were quite powerful too.

"I'm Peter Pettigrew." Peter said, sitting down next to James.

James smiled, "It's nice to meet you. This is Sirius," James pointed to the boy sitting across from them who had long black hair and what looked strangely like a bruise covering his left hand, "And this is Remus Lupin." The boy next to Sirius looked up cautiously and waved. His long brown hair fell into his eyes and seemed to cover a scar on his cheek, right next to his eye.

"So what house do you think you'll be sorted into?" James asked him.

Peter didn't know. He thought Slytherin was a pretty good choice, it would help him be powerful, but no one liked Slytherin and he wanted to fit in. His mum and dad thought he would be in Hufflepuff, they said it was because he was so accepting but Peter knew better. They thought he didn't belong anywhere else. He wanted to prove them, prove everyone, wrong.

"I think I'll be in Gryffindor." Peter said, making his voice sound as brave as he could.

James beamed, looking around at the three boys, "I think we'll all be great friends."

...

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips as she handed Peter back his Transfiguration assignment. "Try harder next time," was her only comment.

Peter looked sadly at his assignment. He had stayed up all night working on it and he had only received a P? That wasn't even a passing grade!

"I got an O!" He heard James say triumphantly, "That was the easiest assignment ever! Peter, what did you get?"

"I got a P." Peter said miserably, _why did James always have to be better than him at everything?_

"Oh," James said, "How about I help you next time?"

Peter smiled, maybe James could help him. Peter would show everyone that he could do great things.

...

"You guys," James said quietly, whispering so only Sirius and Peter could hear. "I think Remus is a werewolf."

Peter balked, werewolves were dangerous, _how could James say that so calmly?_

"No way James," Sirius said, "He would have told us!"

"He wouldn't have," James said, murmuring so low Peter could barely hear him, "He would think we would tell a teacher."

"Of course we wouldn't," Sirius said, "Besides what made you think that he's a werewolf?"

"Think about it, he's sick once a month, he's never in the dorm on the night of the full moon, and where else would all those scars have come from?"

"Blimey," Sirius gasped, "You're probably right! What are we going to do?"

"Well, we should tell a teacher, right?" Peter said quietly, "Werewolves are dangerous. What if he bites one of us?"

He shrunk back at the aghast looks on his two friend's faces.

"No way!" James exclaimed, "We can't do that, he's one of our best mates! We need to find a way to help him."

Peter sighed, James was always the good one. "Okay."

...

Peter fidgeted in his chair. Muggle Studies was probably the most atrocious class in all of Hogwarts. _How could the muggles be equal to wizards? They don't even have magic! _He probably would have dropped the class by now, if it hadn't been for James begging him to stay. James thought the muggles were fascinating, Peter thought they were weird, they were almost like animals in the way they acted.

"Class dismissed," Professor Quirrell said, jostling Peter from his thoughts. The entire class headed for the door.

"That was the best lesson ever!" James was saying, "Electricity sounds so cool."

"That was pretty cool." Remus said, "What did you think Peter?"

"Oh, it was okay."

"I see you're changing your mind about Muggle Studies mate." James smiled, putting his arm around Peter's shoulder. _Not really, _Peter wanted to say but decided to go against it.

"I'm finding it more interesting." Peter said, "The muggles seem quite cool."

James beamed, "Great."

He didn't have to know that Peter was lying.

...

The Marauders were outside near the lake.

"What do you think our animagi will be?" James asked, practically giddy with excitement.

"I dunno mate," Sirius said, "Let's find out!"

Peter wasn't as eager_. What if he got a bad animal? He wanted to become something big, something powerful._

"What if it doesn't work?" Remus asked anxiously, biting his nails into non existence. "I wouldn't be able to stand it if one of you got hurt. Ot would be all my fault."

"Enough with being so worried," James said, "We'll never know until we try. I'm doing it now." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His body morphed into that of a majestic stag.

"Wow," Sirius exclaimed as James changed back, "That's so cool! A stag! James, that's incredible!"

Remus grinned, "A stag would definitely be able to keep me controlled."

Sirius smiled, "My turn next." He squeezed his eyes shut and took the form of a large black dog.

James laughed, "No way! A black dog. Sirius Black and a black dog. Best coincidence ever!"

"Shut up," Sirius said but he was smiling.

"Alright Peter, it's your turn."

Peter gulped, James and Sirius had both gotten good animals, he would have to get something even better than them. He closed his eyes and...

"A rat!" Sirius exclaimed, not even bothering to hide his surprise. "Out of any animal you could have got, you got a rat?"

"Not funny," Peter grumbled after changing back.

"Well," Remus said, obviously trying in vain to hide his smile, "A rat would be very helpful. You could get through the branches of the Whomping Willow and press the knot in the trunk for us."

With that, Sirius burst into laughter. Peter turned away, wanting to shout at Sirius for being such a jerk. It wasn't his fault he got such a useless animal.

"Peter," James said, touching his shoulder, "Don't worry, Sirius was just teasing you. Really any animal could have been helpful. Don't take it personally."

_I'm not sad, _Peter wanted to say. "I know."

"Look on the bright side!" James said happily, "After three years, we've finally become animagi!"

...

"You know," James said, "I've been thinking and we should join the Order of the Phoenix."

The four friends were laying at their favorite spot by the lake, basking in the warm summer sun. It was June and in less than a month, they would graduate from Hogwarts and be free to do whatever they pleased.

"That sounds dangerous." Peter said.

"But we would be doing something with our lives." James said, "I'm tired of letting the adults do all the fun stuff."

"The fun stuff?" Remus echoed, "What would your parents say?"

"Believe it or not, I've already owled them, I begged and they said yes. They know how much I want to help us win this war."

"I think it's a good idea." Sirius said, "I would love the chance to fight some of my disastrous cousins."

"I dunno," Peter said, "It sounds like a sudden idea with no chance of being safe."

"I don't see why not," Remus said, "It's not that bad of an idea. And I would love a chance to help Dumbledore, especially after all that he has done for me."

"Well, okay." Peter said grudgingly, "Let's do it."

...

"Stupefy!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"Incarcerous!"

"Impedimenta!"

The spells from the four Marauders flew in unison to the Death Eaters. They all hit their targets and four of the Death Eaters were defeated. But there were hundreds of them and perhaps only 20 Order members.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Peter barely had the chance to duck as a killing curse flew straight at him. It was following by a petrifying spell which blasted him through the air and onto the floor. He tried to move but he quite obviously couldn't. The only hing he could do was observe the battle until the spell wore off, or until the attacker came to finish him off.

He heard running footsteps and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting to hear another killing curse but instead he felt his limbs relax, he could move again.

"You alright Peter?" It was James, pulling Peter to his feet.

"Yeah," he said, rubbing his shoulder where he had hit the ground. "Thanks."

But James wasn't listening, he was staring off into another part of the forest where the battle had started.

A group of perhaps 25 Death Eaters had surrounded two Order member who Peter recognized as Fabian and Gideon Prewett. They were ducking and casting spells but it was only a matter of minutes before one or even both of them were killed.

"Come on," James said, pulling Peter along with him and ducking as a stray stunning spell flew their way. "We've got to help them."

"No way," Peter said, planting his feet into the ground. "We'll get killed."

James looked aghast, "But they might die!"

_Better them than us. _"There's nothing we can do."

James stifled a shout as the Gideon fell over, then Fabian, both were dead.

For the rest of the evening, James threw himself into the battle. He was casting spells left and right. Peter was pretty sure that a Death Eater had died because of the pure strength of James's spell.

Still, the Order of the Phoenix lost that battle. There were 5 casualties, including Fabian and Gideon. The look on the face of their little sister, Molly, when they told her they news was heart-breaking. She broke into tears and didn't stop sobbing for at least a couple of hours.

After they had all been treated for any injuries, Peter escaped into the backyard of an Order members house. He really needed to think.

Was being part of the Order safe anymore? It had never been safe but Peter had always believed that they were going to win this war. But now, he wasn't so sure. _What was there to gain from defying the Dark Lord? _Nothing, just more death and injuries.

He made a decision, now he could only hope that it was the right one.

...

"So," The Dark Lord began, "You want to join the Death Eaters, is that correct?"

Peter shifted nervously, "Yes. I do."

The Dark Lord sneered, "And why would you like to join us?"

"Because, I've realized that you guys will win this war and there is nothing to gain by staying on the other side."

"I see," The Dark Lord gave him a weird look as he called his second in command, Bellatrix Lestrange, over to where they were standing. "And you do realize that I have some," he paused as Bellatrix cackled, "doubts about letting you into our army of Death Eaters."

"Yes, of course I understand," Peter said, cursing himself when his voice turned squeaky, "But I know many things about the Order that you do not."

Bellatrix whispered something into the Dark Lord's ear.

"Bellatrix is right," he began, "What if you are a spy? Sent here by Dumbledore to gain all our secrets, then tell them to the Order."

"Anything I can do to prove my loyalty, I will do."

Bellatrix grinned, "Crucio!"

Peter felt himself hit the floor. The pain was immediate and excruciating. It felt as though he was on fire. It would never end, surely he would die from this, his body wasted away. As Peter wished he could just die, to be spared from the pain, it stopped.

"So," The Dark Lord began as Peter struggled to his feet, "Do you still wish to join our worthy cause?"

"Yes."

"I have one more test for you. Legilimens!"

Images flashed in front of Peter's eyes. The day on the Hogwarts express, learning about Remus's true identity, all the times that James had helped him. But there was also the other memories, all the jealousy he felt towards the other Marauders, the battle where he realized that they were going to lose, and his decision to change sides in the war.

"Okay," The Dark Lord said as the images fell away, "I am satisfied, it is final. Do you wish to betray your friends, your family, to join the dark side?"

_Forgive me James, _Peter thought as he held out his left arm, "Yes."


	5. Special Day (Severus&Lily)

**I wrote this story for NinjaDevil2000 aka Mason. She is such a sweet person and is always so helpful** **and kind. This story is about Severus' 14th birthday (third year) and how he ends up celebrating it with Lily. This story was inspired by a challenge on The Golden Snitch Forum. I'm in ****Beauxbatons in the house Barbegazi.**

**Severus Snape Special Birthday - 1. Write a Snape-centered story with a birthday party included. ****Extra Prompts - "Do you actually think I will go to your dunderhead filled party?", The Three Broomsticks, ****"Happy Birthday Sev!"**

**Word Count: 1447**

* * *

As a child, birthdays were never special to Severus.

They were like normal days, his parents didn't care enough to even get him a real present. Usually he got a dirty look from his dad and a sad smile from his mom, and that was if he was lucky. Or else he would just be ignored as his parents fought, like usual.

Before he went to Hogwarts, his birthdays were especially boring.

He would go to muggle school (his dad had insisted he get some 'real' education), get teased by his irritating classmates, read books during recess. When school was over, he would walk home, finish the homework he was given (it was always easy), then he would lock himself in his room and teach himself a few spells.

They were just normal days.

But, of course, that changed when he met Lily Evans.

Lily was the brightest, happiest, most beautiful person Severus had ever met.

And she loved birthdays.

...

Severus was more than happy when Ancient Runes class was over. Of course, he did like the class (why else would he have picked it as one of his electives), but Potter and his idiot friends just had to be in the same class. As soon as class was dismissed, he packed up and walked out the door.

"Hey, Severus," came a voice from behind, followed by running footsteps.

Severus turned around, taking care not to drop his armful of books. He smiled when he saw Lily, his best friend coming from another classroom. She was grinning and bouncing a little on her feet.

"Lily, what is it?" He looked at her emerald-eyes, which were sparkling. "You look excited."

She laughed and batted at his arm, "Maybe I look excited to you because you never look excited."

He smirked, "That's not even fair. I'm not some amazing bottle of sunshine like you are."

Severus felt his cheeks heat up when he realized he just called her 'an amazing bottle of sunshine'. Now she would surely know how much she meant to him.

But she only smiled and started walking with him to Defense Against the Dark Arts, which they had next, "You're birthday is coming up."

He frowned, "Is it?"

Lily gaped at him, "Do you seriously not care about your birthday. I mean I know you don't like it but isn't there some significance?"

"Nope," he shrugged, trying to make sure she didn't see how much it really bothered him, "It's just a normal day."

"Just a normal day," she said incredulously, "Sometimes I think you're crazy. You're turning 14!"

"Lily," he said, "I already know that. It's just that I don't do anything for my birthday."

She stopped suddenly and he had to turn around. On her face was a small little smile, one that was probably hiding some extravagant plan.

"What is it," he asked, hoping she didn't get a crazy idea.

"Your birthday," she smiled, her face lighting up.

"Yeah," he said, now wanting to get to class, "What about it?"

"It's on a Hogsmeade day!"

"Oh," he didn't realize that, he didn't even realize that his birthday was on a weekend. Now he wouldn't have to go to class. Maybe he could get himself a new book.

"We could throw a party!" His stomach sank, a party really? But Lily kept talking, "It could be somewhere cool, and we could invite everyone in our year and-"

"Lily," he interrupted her, "I don't really want to have a party."

Her face fell, "Why not?"

"Because it's me, Lily. I'm Severus, you're my only real friend. No one else would come. What would they say," he imitated the kids in their year, "Do you actually think I will go to your dunderhead filled party?"

Lily sighed as they reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, "It could just be the two of us then."

"Maybe, I don't know Lily." He wanted to kick himself,_ why was he refusing a chance to spend even more time with her? _"Just don't get too excited."

Her beautiful face now had a slight frown and Severus felt awful. He didn't know why he couldn't just accept the nice gesture. Maybe a party wouldn't be so bad...

...

On January 9th, Severus woke up and immediately went to the common room. He didn't like being around when his roommates woke up, they were so annoying. He waved hello when Regulas Black came and sat on the seat across from him. Sure, the boy was the brother of the git Sirius, but he wasn't so bad.

Severus spent about an hour doing some work to get ahead. Just as he was about to go to the Great Hall to get some breakfast, an owl came to the window. He frowned, why would an owl come now instead of at breakfast?

He walked over and saw that the owl was carrying a medium sized package. The package read, _To: Severus Snape,_ _Happy Birthday!_

Severus' stomach gave a funny jolt. That was him! And it was his birthday! How had he forgotten? But who would ever have a package for him? No one cared enough to send him anything, except maybe Lily, but she would just give it in person.

He tore open the wrapping and found the surprise of his life. His mom had gotten him something! A quill and a letter! A far cry from last year when he hadn't received anything. He smiled despite himself, maybe today would be special after all.

...

Severus sighed as he stood in line to go to Hogsmeade. Lily was nowhere in sight. She must be really made at him for not wanting to have a party if she was going to be ignoring him like this.

Argus Filch, the fairly new caretaker, was checking students for their permission slip and getting angry each time someone had one. He really wanted a reason to punish someone. The caretaker gave him a nasty glare when Severus showed him the slip his mom had signed.

When he got to Hogsmeade, he looked around for Lily. Surely she couldn't be that mad at him, right?

He trudged through the snow and stopped at Zonkos but immediately left when he saw Potter and his friends eye him with smirks on their faces.

Severus sighed as he entered the Three Broomsticks, he had actually thought his birthday wouldn't be so bad. Now all he could do was perhaps get something to drink and just wander around.

He was still lost in his thoughts when someone ran and hugged him from behind.

"Ah," he shouted, startled by the sudden touch. He immediately wanting to kick himself for sounding like such a wimp. He tried to look behind him, "Who is it?"

He recognized Lily's twinkling laugh as she spun him around to face her. In her arms was a handful of presents. "Happy Birthday Sev!"

Severus smiled, of course Lily wouldn't leave him alone on his birthday. How could he have even thought that for a moment? She was the best friend ever.

"Thanks Lily," he said, getting them a seat. She dumped the presents into his lap. "Wait," he frowned, "These are all for me."

She grinned, "Of course, they are silly. Who else would they be for?"

"I don't know," he said softly, staring down at the presents. He was so moved by this grand gesture. No one had ever done something so thoughtful for him.

"Sev," Lily said, "Are you okay?"

He looked up, "I'm fine, just really suprised."

"You shouldn't be. This is just my way of thanking you for being the best friend I've ever had."

A small smile tugged at his lips, "You're the best friend I've ever had too."

She smiled at him with a smile that made butterflies soar in his stomach. "Well, aren't you going to open them?"

"Oh, right!"

The presents were amazing. She had gotten him a defense book he wanted for ages, some more potions ingredients (he was forever running out), two rolls of parchment, and a pack of Chocolate Frogs. Severus didn't really like candy, he never had any as a child, but Chocolate Frogs were an exception. He liked seeing all the famous wizards and witches.

"Thank you Lily."

She stood up and gave him a hug. "No problem."

A rare smile appeared on Severus' face, maybe today was a special day after all.


	6. To Help a Friend in Need (Ginny&Luna)

**Written for Round 3 of the IWSC.**

**Story Title/Link: To Help a Friend in Need**

**School and Theme: Durmstrang - Plant Poisoning (For your theme you should look at how wizards and witches use plants as weapons and cures.)**

I interpreted this prompt by using the tea that Luna makes for Ginny to have the main ingredient as plants. This is a recipe that I made up for this story but is based off of the Calming Draught and the Draught of Peace which have some of the same ingredients as this tea. It was a recipe that her mother had invented during the Wizarding War for helping people who had been traumatized although it later helped both her husband and daughter after her death. This tea is a cure for Ginny because it makes her feel so much better and she doesn't have to pretend to be okay anymore.

**Main Prompt: 10. [Platonic Pairing] Ginny Weasley/Luna Lovegood**

**Additional Prompts: 4. [Quote] "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up" - V Lombardi & 12. [Emotion] Fear**

**Year: 2**

**Wordcount (google docs): 2899**

As a side note, the things about the Blibbering Humdinger are things that were made up for this story and aren't from canon. This is because this creature came from Luna's imagination and she made the creature resemble her and how she felt when her mother died. Something else that I think I should mention is that Luna and Ginny have not met before, they have met briefly but aren't familiar with each other.

**Edit: Thank you to the judges for getting this story to win one of the JPs at the IWSC! I was so shocked and very pleased.**

* * *

Ginny prodded at her steak-and-kidney pie, cutting it into many more pieces. It was her first-ever End-of-Term Feast and she knew she ought to be more excited. Yet, the only thing on her mind—day and night—was how she had been possessed by Tom's diary.

The whole memory was horrifying. The way Tom had taken control of her and made her follow his evil commands. She had thought that he was her friend—that he cared for her. _And he had betrayed her_.

"Ginny," Percy said, reaching for more potatoes, "how are you enjoying the Feast?"

Ginny plastered a smile on her face and scooped some of her mashed pie into her mouth. "Oh, it's wonderful, Percy. I'm having a lovely time."

He smiled at her. "I'm glad to hear it, Ginny. It's nice to see you having fun."

The moment Percy turned away, Ginny let the smile drop from her face. It was exhausting to have to pretend like she was okay. Like she didn't spend every waking moment absorbed in the memory of Tom Riddle. Like she didn't see Tom's face laughing at her every time she closed her eyes, mocking her for thinking that he meant no harm.

She _hated _him.

"Oi, Ginny!"

It was Fred; he and George were laughing at some joke.

"Hey, Ginny," George said, grinning. He pointed at Harry. "Where do you think he's going after the Feast?"

Ginny frowned. Usually, when they tried to make her laugh, their jokes actually seemed to be going somewhere. "I don't know."

"Come on, Gin," Fred laughed, "It's really easy."

She huffed. "Well, I don't know."

"He's going to the Chamber of Secrets! To save another damsel in distress, of course." They laughed, seemingly thinking that their joke was funny.

"Fred! George!" Percy snapped. "That's _enough_. Stop teasing her!"

"Relax Perce," Fred said, "it was only a joke."

But Ginny hardly heard him. Memories of the chamber were flooding her, coming at her fast. The cold, the dizziness, the fear she felt when she realized she had been played for a _fool_.

_Naive little fool._

"Ginny," George said, "we're just joking. You do know that, right?"

Ginny forced herself to look calm even though she felt like she might start shaking.

"Whatever." She turned away from the table. "I don't care about your dumb jokes anyway."

As soon as Ginny turned, she regretted looking through the Great Hall's open doors.

Something yellow was glowing from the entrance hall. Ginny stood so she could see better.

It was Mrs. Norris.

The cat's yellow eyes focused on Ginny and the cat gave her a horrified look. Mrs. Norris jumped and yowled before darting away. Something about it seemed oddly familiar…

At that moment it was as though all the air had been sucked out of the room. Ginny sank back onto the bench, trembling. She couldn't breathe. She bit down on her lip, trying to force the image of Mrs. Norris' startled face away. The cat had done the exact same thing before she had been petrified. Before _Ginny _had petrified her.

Ginny gasped, desperate for air. But there was nothing.

She could feel the blood pounding in her ears as her heart thudded against her chest.

The fork she was still holding clattered to her plate from her shaking hands. She glanced around wildly, trying to calm down. Everything was blurred, as though someone had cast a Bubblehead Charm on the Great Hall.

"Ginny." She could hear Percy's worried voice echoing in the very back of her mind. _Perhaps that was the only sane part of her left_. "Ginny, are you alright?"

She jerked back as Percy touched her shoulder. She had to leave. She couldn't stay here, not in the crowd of happy people. _What if she petrified someone again?_

Ginny stumbled out from behind the bench and ran, ignoring her brothers' shouts of surprise.

She ran—out the Great Hall, up the main staircase—and kept running until she was halfway across the school.

Outside the Charms classroom, she stopped and sank to her knees, her chest heaving as she tried to suck in enough air. She choked back a sob and put her head in her shaking hands, trying in vain to calm herself down.

_She was dangerous. How could she have let Tom control her? She was just as bad as the Death Eaters._

_Why hadn't she fought back? How could she have put everyone in danger? _

_And _why _couldn't she breathe?_

"Are you alright?"

Ginny's head snapped up. She squinted, her vision blurry from tears. Standing in front of her was a girl with blonde hair. She seemed to be the same age as Ginny was. From what she could see of her, Ginny noticed that the girl had a rather concerned, yet still dreamy look on her face.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked, crouching down to get on Ginny's level.

She thought about saying yes, that she was fine, that the girl ought to go back and enjoy the feast. But the fact that she was crying and gasping for air wouldn't make her lie sound even a little convincing.

She shook her head violently and the girl frowned. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Ginny shook her head again. Then, realizing that the girl didn't understand her, she forced some words out of her mouth. "No. I can't—I can't breathe right."

The girl gave a soft smile and put a comforting hand on Ginny's trembling shoulder. "Do you know about the Blibbering Humdinger?"

Ginny frowned. "The what?"

"The Blibbering Humdinger," the girl said while sitting down on the floor next to Ginny.

"Don't worry, not many people know about it. My daddy studies them and writes about them in his magazine, _The Quibbler_. They got their name because if they don't get to be by themselves at least once every three weeks, they end up making a rather loud blibber sound."

Ginny leaned forward—for some reason, she was fascinated by the idea of such a creature. "Really?"

"Yes." The girl looked off into the distance dreamily. "They remind me of humans sometimes."

The pressure around Ginny's chest was fading. She could already feel her panic shrinking.

The girl looked at Ginny, knowing shining in her eyes. "Sometimes, all we need is to hide away for some time and then we feel better again. Just imagine how it would feel to be a Blibbering Humdinger."

Even though it felt silly, Ginny closed her eyes. She imagined hiding away from everyone, from their concern and their questions. But only for a little while. Then she could come back stronger and wouldn't feel so scared all the time. She would be weightless, like how she felt soaring over her house on her brothers' broomsticks.

When she opened her eyes, she was glad to see that the girl was still there.

"Do you feel better?" she asked, offering Ginny a hand to get up.

Ginny smiled back at her and took the hand. "I do. Thank you. How did you know how to help?"

The girl smiled sadly, "It's what I used to do when I was younger. My mum had just died and I wanted to get away from it all."

Ginny couldn't imagine life without her mum. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be. It happened two years ago and I'm mostly over it by now." She held her hand out for Ginny to shake. "I'm Luna, by the way, Luna Lovegood."

"I'm Ginny Weasley."

The two girls started to walk back to the Great Hall.

Luna turned to look at her. "Maybe you'd like to come to my house over the summer? We could have a sleepover."

Ginny grinned, feeling happier and at peace than she had felt in weeks. "I would love to."

xxx

"Daddy?"

Luna sat down on the couch next to her dad. He was writing again, probably a new article for _The Quibbler._

Her dad looked up, smiling as he saw his daughter. "Yes?"

"Do you remember the tea you made for me? After mum died?"

His eyes grew concerned. "Why do you ask, sweetie? Do you need me to make some more for you?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that my friend went through something really bad and I think she needs it."

"Is it for the youngest Weasley? The one who's coming here next week?"

"Yes, do you think I can get it ready before then?"

He stood up and walked over to their bookshelf. He ran his fingers along the spines before stopping on a lilac one. Luna stood behind her dad as he pulled out the book and started rifling through it. She noticed that it was a handmade recipe book. Her dad stopped on a page which was titled, 'Recovering Potion'.

"This is the potion, darling," he said, showing her the page. It didn't seem too hard and Luna, who was fairly good at Potions, was sure that she would be able to pull it off. Luna smiled as she saw the beautiful drawings that were made for each ingredient. It was as though pieces of her mother still shone in her artwork.

Luna took the book from her dad. "Thank you, Daddy."

"Do you need any help?"

"It's okay, I want to do this on my own."

Back in her room, Luna spent hours poring over the recipe, which was enough for two weeks' worth of the draught. It seemed quite simple but Luna knew that there were a lot of plants and complicated instructions. She was glad that her potions kit had a nearly full set of ingredients.

Luna looked over the ingredients first so she could make sure she had them all.

_4 tsp of powdered Moonstone_

_3 tsp of syrup of Hellebore_

_1 Valerian root_

_3 sprigs of lavender_

_2 cups of water_

_2 sprigs of peppermint_

She smiled, she had all of those ingredients in her kit except for lavender, which luckily grew in the garden behind her house.

After going to her backyard and grabbing three sprigs of lavender, Luna started her potion.

First, she crushed the Valerian root until it was a fine powder and put both it and two teaspoons of the Powdered Moonstone into her cauldron. She then mixed the Syrup of Hellebore with the water before adding it to her concoction. Her mother's recipe said to let it simmer for 10 minutes before stirring seven times clockwise and twice counter-clockwise.

As Luna waited, she wrote out a short letter to Ginny.

_Dear Ginny, _

_How are you? I am doing well, I am very excited for you to come over next week. There will be a surprise ready for you once you get here!_

_Your friend,_

_Luna_

After sending the letter with her father's owl, she returned to her draught and stirred it according to the instructions.

Next, she added the remaining powdered Moonstone slowly and watched it turn the draught to turn into a baby blue colour. When it did, she quickly dropped in the lavender and smiled as the potion immediately turned deep blue. She stirred it five times counter-clockwise before putting her unused ingredients away; her draught was almost done.

Finally, Luna waited for the potion to stop simmering before she added the Peppermint. Luna took a whiff of the draught and realized that it now smelled amazing. She grinned to herself.

Looking down at the recipe book, she thought about how she could serve this draught to Ginny. The words scrawled at the bottom gave her a great idea.

_This draught can be combined with any normal drink or food without any side effects. Helpful for those either reluctant to take the draught or those who wish for even more flavour._

Luna carefully poured her completed draught into a large bottle and went to the kitchen. She placed it on the counter and looked through the cupboards. Although Ginny would surely be happy to receive this draught the way it was, Luna still wanted to make it special.

She grabbed all the ingredients for her favourite chocolate cookie recipe and set them on the far side of the counter. She could make cookies before Ginny came over and add the draught into some tea. If she used up all of it, Luna could just make more.

Luna smiled and hummed to herself as she worked, happy that she had a way to help her friend.

xxx

On the morning of the day of their sleepover, Ginny couldn't keep herself from smiling. _She was just so excited!_

When it was finally time for Ginny to be at Luna's house, her mum offered to take her there. At first, Ginny was hesitant, Luna's mum was dead after all. Wouldn't she be sad to see Ginny with her mum? But, there was no other way and Luna would probably be very happy to see her that it didn't really matter.

Ginny and her mum decided to walk the way there, it was a lovely day outside anyway. Even though she was excited, Ginny couldn't help but feel the same nervousness that seemed to follow her everywhere. Maybe a day with her friend would help her feel better.

When she caught sight of Luna's house, Ginny excitedly ran up to the door and gave it a hard knock.

The door opened to reveal a man with shoulder-length whitish-blond hair and Luna's silvery eyes.

"Hello," he said, shaking Ginny's hand. "You must be Ginny Weasley. Luna's told me all about you."

Ginny grinned, "Really? Where is she?"

"She's just in the kitchen. Why don't you head on over there while I talk to your mum?"

"Okay."

Ginny waited until her mum was near the door, then walked into the house.

"Luna?"

She saw her friend's blonde hair peek out from behind one of the rooms. "Ginny!" Luna pulled her into a tight embrace. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you."

"Me too. I've been waiting all month to see you."

Luna smiled, "Come, let's go into the kitchen. My surprise is in there."

Ginny followed her into the kitchen with a feeling of nervous excitement. She wondered what Luna could be so excited to show her.

The Lovegood kitchen was beautiful. The walls were covered in drawings and the cabinets were themed with pastel colours. But the thing that caught Ginny's eye was the table. On it, there was a teapot and a platter of delicious-looking chocolate chip cookies.

Luna pointed at the treats. "These are my surprises."

Ginny took a seat at the table. "They look very good."

Luna poured two cups of tea and handed one to her. "It isn't the cookies that are the main surprise. It's really the tea that I wanted to show you."

"Oh, is it a special kind?"

Luna gestured for her to try some of it. "It was my mum's recipe. It's a mind-relaxing draught that she invented. It heals you."

Ginny smiled, "You made this just for me?"

"Of course. You're my friend. It is working?"

Ginny sipped some more tea and then drank it until the cup was empty. Up until now, the background feeling of nervousness was building its way up her body, threatening to suffocate her. Yet now, all the bad feelings seemed to disappear. Ginny closed her eyes, feeling all those bad thoughts seemingly waft away. She saw the truth, that the Chamber wasn't her fault and that she _did _deserve to be happy. It was the most freeing thing she had ever felt.

"Ginny?"

She opened her eyes to look at the girl who just helped her in the biggest way imaginable. "It's working. I don't feel so trapped anymore. How can something as simple as tea do this?"

Luna smiled, "My mum was really good at these sorts of draughts. She always knew which plants would go together to help people in the best way possible. I'm glad it's working."

"It's amazing. How often do I need to take it?"

"You only have to take it once, but if you need more you can always come back."

Ginny grinned, a draught that only had to be taken once? This was far better than the calming draughts that she had had to take daily when she was in the Hospital Wing.

Luna got a far away look in her eyes. "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up."

"Where is that from?"

"My mom used to tell me that. It means that you have to choose to get back up, to keep trying."

Ginny had never heard words so touching before. "I'll never forget that."

The rest of the day went by in a flurry of fun and happiness. They went for a walk in the sun, drew some pictures, and even went for a ride on Luna's dad's broomstick. By the end of the day, Ginny had multiple drawings of creatures from Luna and Luna discovered a new joy in flying her dad's broomstick so high, she felt as though she were flying.

After a lot of leading, Luna's dad agreed to let them sleep outside, under the stars. Ginny snuggled into her sleeping bag as Luna pointed out all the stars that she could see. When the moon was high into the sky, Ginny turned to her friend, her best friend.

"Luna?"

"Yes, Ginny?"

"Thank you."


	7. Brother by Heart (Sirius&James)

**This is a prize drabble for** **Arasulgil for taking part in my challenge on HPFC. I hope you enjoy this drabble as I had a fun time writing it. Sorry it took like two weeks. **

**Although this is mainly a prize drabble, ****it is also submission for the TGS forum.**

**School and house: Beauxbatons, Barbegazi**

**Challenge: The Hurt and Comfort challenge**

**List 1**

**1\. [action] hug [song] It's all coming back to me now by Celine Dion**

**Warning for mentions of child abuse.**

**Word count: 764**

* * *

_"You are an utter disgrace to the Black family!"_

_Sirius cowered__ as his mother advanced on him, her wand raised._

_His heart thudded against his chest and he tried to school his expression into an indifferent one. To hide the fact that he was close to a breakdown. His mother could never know just how much her words hurt him._

_"Crucio!" she cried and Sirius was blind to everything else in the world except for the torturing pain coursing though his body. It seemed to last hours, no years. It was more than he could bear._

_Finally, she lifted the spell and he rose shakily to his feet, panting and holding onto the wall to stay upright._

_She easily knocked him back down. His legs were shaking so hard they bailed on him at the slightest pressure."You filthy piece of scum! You don't deserve to have the Black family name!"_

_Sirius forced himself not to cry and instead spoke through teeth gritted in pain. "I never wanted this name anyway. It means nothing to me."_

_Her face hardened and she raised her wand once more. Sirius, tired and close to breaking, couldn't defend himself even if his life depended on it. Right now, it probably did._

_As the spell hit him again, he started to scream._

"Sirius!" a voice broke through his thoughts, jerking him awake.

Sirius sat up in bed, his mind spinning. He glanced around, trying to force himself to take deep breaths. A blanket was twisted all around him. It was covered in sweat. He put his heads in his hands.

The bed creaked as someone sat down on it. James was looking at him, concern etched upon his face. Sirius looked away, not wanting his best friend's pity.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No. Sorry I woke you up."

"Hey," James said, moving so he was directly in Sirius's line of sight, "don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong."

He shrugged and looked away again, looking at the pictures on James's bedroom walls. Photos of the Potter family, all of them happy and smiling. His family was never like that. He could feel himself start to shake again, a tear escaping from his eyes. Sirius dashed it away quickly. He couldn't show weakness.

James hugged him from behind. At first, he stiffened. Like he always did when someone got too close. By now, it was a natural reflex. Then, remembering that it was only James, he relaxed slightly, letting James fold him into an embrace.

"It's okay," James whispered, "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"You don't have to be so nice," he said, his voice cracking. "I don't need you to feel bad for me."

"Feel bad for you?" James repeated incredulously. "Padfoot, you're my _best _friend. I'll do anything for you."

More tears fell at those kind words. "Prongs, I'd do anything for you too, but—"

"No buts," he interrupted, squeezing Sirius even tighter. "You're like my brother. It's my job to look out for you. Letting you stay at my house is nothing" Sirius couldn't help but let a small grin onto his face. "Now tell me what's wrong."

He sighed. "Just a nightmare about my mother. Even though I try...no matter how _hard _I try, I just can't help but remember how much she hated me. How much they all hated me."

James made a small noise at the back of his throat. "We don't hate you, Pads."

"I know, but I'm scared," he continued. "There's a war coming, Prongs. And I know we always act like we don't care about the war and that we're going to join the Order when we graduate. But this is a war. We could get hurt. People could die."

"We're not going to die. We'll be okay."

"But how do you know for sure?"

"I don't," James said simply. "But I have faith. When we are all together, nothing can hurt us."

"And whose sides will I take? I can't join Voldemort's side. But who knows what my family will do to me..." Sirius felt himself tremble against his will.

"You'll join us, of course," he said. "You may not have the same parents as me but you will _always _be my brother. Nothing can ever bring the two of us apart. I promise."

Sirius felt James hug him once more and he couldn't help but smile. James really was his brother. Blood didn't matter. All that did was love.


	8. Victoire Means Victory (Victoire&Teddy)

**Here's a little drabble for this collection since I haven't updated this collection in a long time. Teddy and Victoire are still kids here and haven't started dating so I decided that it was safe to put in my collection of stories for friends. Here, I made Victoire and Teddy two years apart, with Victoire having been born in 2000. She doesn't have an accent because she and her siblings were raised speaking english.**

**HPFC**

**Build-A-Bear Challenge**

**Scent: Birthday Cake - Write a fic involving the smell of birthday cake.**

**Word Count: 1590**

* * *

Victoire could feel her dad's hands covering her eyes. "Just a little longer."

She giggled and continued to let him lead her downstairs. It was hard work walking down the stairs of Shell Cottage without being able to see but she had lived here her whole life and knew exactly where to step.

"Alright, Vic," she heard her dad say as they came to a stop. "Open your eyes!"

She did and was immediately surrounded by her family and all their cousins. The kitchen and living room were all covered in balloons and streamers. There was even a banner with her name on it.

"Happy eighth birthday, Victoire!" They all shouted, the adults sending blue and yellow sparks into the air with their wands.

All of her younger cousins bounded over to her, giving her hugs around the waist. She was still much taller than all of them.

"Wow," she said, smiling at the adults. "Thank you so much!" She knew that it must have been hard for them to plan a surprise birthday for her.

"You're welcome," her mom said from behind her. She spun around and all the kids squealed as her mom set a beautiful chocolate cake on the table, covered in bellflowers and rainbow sprinkles. She took a big whiff, it smelled great. Some of the younger toddlers reached for the cake but her mom shooed them away, laughing that the cake was for after.

"Why don't you all go and play. We'll call you after."

All the kids headed to their favourite cousins. Even though everyone got along great, there were still groups that formed within the cousins, as it usually happened with large groups. And Victoire had a lot of cousins.

As most of the younger kids headed to the playroom and the others headed outside, Victoire searched the room for Teddy, her favourite cousin. He wasn't really her cousin, but he was still her best friend.

She frowned, scanning the room for his trademark blue hair. As she did, she noticed that all of the adults were acting rather strange. None of them were smiling and all of her dad's siblings seemed especially sad. Why were they sad? It was her birthday, they were supposed to be happy!

Aunt Ginny and Aunt Angelina were whispering to Uncle George, who seemed the saddest out of all of them. Now that Victoire thought about it a little more, all the adults seemed a little down at all of her birthdays. Not as sad as they seemed now, but still pretty down. She couldn't think of a single reason why. Once, when she had turned five, she had woken up to her dad crying and her mom trying to comfort him. When she asked what was wrong, her mom just said that he just had a very bad dream. She had had bad dreams before and knew how scary they were so she wasn't too bothered. But now that she was older, it seemed more like a lie.

Finally, she spotted Teddy standing with Uncle Harry in the corner of the room. Even he looked sad. And it was her birthday! Something about him seemed strange and when she got closer, she realized that his hair was a light brown colour, instead of it's usual blue. She wondered why he had changed it to such a normal looking colour. He always used bright colours because he thought bright colours made everything better.

"Hi, Teddy," she said, giving him a hug.

"Hi, Vic. Happy birthday."

"Why'd you change your hair?"

She felt him pause under her arms.

"It's okay, Teddy," she heard Uncle Harry say as she let go. "You can tell her."

She let go and looked up at her uncle. "Tell me what?"

He didn't answer but gestured for Teddy to speak.

Teddy looked around at all the adults and frowned. Victoire noticed, with quite a bit of annoyance, that they were all still awfully sad looking. She really wanted to know why they were so sad about her birthday.

"Can we go to your room?" Teddy asked. "I don't want the little ones to hear us."

None of the little kids were in the room but Victoire lead him upstairs to her room anyway. She was really curious as to what he wanted to talk about.

"So what is it?" she asked. "What did you want to tell me?"

He took a deep breath. "Remember how my parents died during the Second Wizarding War?"

She paused. She hadn't been expecting him to talk about his parents. She knew that they had died during the Second Wizarding War and that they were really close to Uncle Harry but no one really told her anything else. She did know that Teddy wished he could have met them. Whenever he missed them, she would comfort him as he cried and wipe away his tears afterwards, suggesting a new game they could play to distract him. "Yeah?"

"Well, Harry told me how they died."

"Oh." She hadn't thought of that. She had just assumed that they'd been killed on a mission. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"You're my best friend, Vic," he said. "Besides, it's not like I'll tell anyone else. Since I'm going to Hogwarts next year, Harry thought I should know."

Victoire just sat there. She didn't want to force him into telling her something so hard.

"Remember how there was a battle at Hogwarts? And that's how the war ended. Because Harry killed Voldemort."

She nodded. It was a known fact throughout the Wizarding World and she had read about it in books.

"Well, both my parents fought in that battle, and they were both killed."

"Oh, Teddy." She noticed the tears in his eyes and gave him a hug. "That's horrible. I'm so sorry."

"My dad died in a fight against a Death Eater. Harry told me that he wanted to make the world a better place for me to grow up." He pulled a photograph from his pocket and handed it to her. She unfolded it and saw a picture of a man with brown hair exactly matching Teddy's right now with his arms wrapped around a woman with bright pink hair who was holding a smiling baby in her arms. "That's them. My first picture of them. Harry didn't think I was ready to see them before."

"That's why your hair is different today," she said. "You know, you look a lot like him."

He smiled softly. "Thank you."

She ran a finger over the woman's hair in the photo. "What happened to your mom?"

"She died there too," he said flatly. "Her own aunt killed her."

"What?" Victoire cried. "That's crazy!"

"She was a Death Eater and my mom wasn't. They were on different sides." Tears dribbled down his cheeks and he turned away.

She reached for his hand and squeezed it as tightly as she could. "Why'd Uncle Harry tell you today of all days?"

He turned back to face her. "Vic, they died today. Today's the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts."

For a moment she didn't understand. But then it all made sense. Why everyone looked so sad on all of her birthdays but this one especially. Why her dad had once been crying on her birthday. Why all of the adults had forced smiles and Uncle Harry had shadows under his eyes. Why all of her dad's siblings, especially Uncle George, were always the most sad. Their brother Fred must have died on the same day. Today. 10 years ago.

"I was born on the anniversary of a war?" May 2nd had always been a happy day to her. Now it was weird, almost bittersweet.

"Yeah. You know what Victoire means, don't you?"

She frowned. "It means victory," she said slowly before all the pieces came together in her head. "Oh."

"Victoire means victory, Vic. Your birthday's special."

"No," she said, looking up at Teddy. "It's a reminder of everyone who died. No wonder everyone's sad on my birthday."

"No, Victoire," Teddy took her hands. "That's what I thought at first too. But then I realized it's way more than that. It's a reminder of everyone that happened _after_. All the freedom and no more fear. It represents the victory that we felt, even after all the we lost."

"So it doesn't bother you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your best friend's birthday is on the same day your parents died."

"That just means that I'll get to remember them and celebrate with you at the same time. Maybe it'll be worse when I'm older, or when I'm at Hogwarts, but for now I'm fine with it."

She leaned into him. "Okay."

Teddy opened his mouth to say something else but at that moment, Victoire's mom's voice wafted up the stairs. "Victoire, come downstairs. We're going to cut your cake."

Victoire could smell the chocolate cake from here and felt her mouth water. Grandma Molly must have made it. She made the best cakes out of anyone else that Victoire knew.

"Come on, Vic," Teddy pulled her to her feet, all signs of his tears left behind. "Let's go and celebrate. It's still your birthday after all."

They ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, where their families and a big chocolate cake were waiting for them. Victoire thought about her birthday and everything she had learnt about it. Only one part of it seemed important right now. _Victory._


End file.
